Mechanism for handling endless film



Oct. 13, 1942. D. T. BRIDGES MECHANISM FOR HANDLING ENDLESS FILM Filed Jan. 27, 1940 6 Sheets-Sheet l l;wer 6Z0 7 ,D/w/a 7710055 BRIDGES Oct. 13, 1942. \BRlDGES 2,298,925-

umcmmxsm FOR HANDLING ENDLESS FILM Filed Jan. 27, 1949 s Shets-Sheeio 2 jA/Y/EL 717M985? BRIDGES Oct. 13, 1942. D. T. BRIDGES 2 MECHANISM FOR HANDLING ENDLESS FILM 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 f vmv Q r q .s m @Q R o v hm N .l. w U Q m NQ v N$ v %N M m 2 3 QQ I u Q o v w 1 N w I Q l l W. Y w H 9 1| w m w% H 1 QM Oct. 13, 1942. D. T. BRIDGES 2,298,925

MECHANISM FOR HANDLING ENDLESS FILM Filed Jan. 27, 1940 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 2 FROM PROJECTOR 0 O O l4 7 40 Z r0 PPOJECTOk o ,7 O r M I no #8 Oct. 13, 1942. D. T. BRIDGES MECHANISM FOR HANDLING ENDLESS FILM Filed Jan. 27, 1940 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 1M M u L W0 D Oct. 13, 1942. D. 1". BRIDGES 2,298,925

MECHANISM FOR HANDLING ENDLESS FILM Filed Jan. 27, 1940 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 jig/4 ad a a2 I 66' :1 194 A90 in L94 figJf jar/671207" Patented Oct. 13, 1942 UNHTED STATES PAT-T GEE-ICE MECHANISM FOR HANDLING ENDLES S 2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in. mechanism for handling endless. film or other strip material in the form of a. continuous loop whereby the. film. may be continuously projected in the same direction without interruption.

There is. a commercial need for continuous. projection motion picture equipment in which the film used is in the form of an endless loop. Various mechanisms. have been designed to handle endless film but are usually limited to a small supply or a relatively short length of film due to the design. of the reeling mechanism in which the film is wound upon the outside of a reel, and at the same. time unwound from the inside of. the same. reel; since the. stock of film on the reel remains constant, the inner coils must be free from continuous slippage, and this slippage, which cannot be avoided in this type of apparatus, results in considerable wear on the film.

It is an object of my invention to provide apparatus for feeding endless film continuously in the same direction to a projector, which apparatus is designed to handle relatively long loops of film and in which the film is substantially continuously unwinding from one reel and winding on to another reel instead of winding on and unwind ing. from the same reel as has been the customary practice in reeling endless loop film.

It. is further an object of my invention to provide means for winding film in a doubled loop On a single reel, whereby one half of the supply is drawn from the. projector and the other half from a similar reel which is unwinding a doubled loop of film delivered half to the projector and half to the winding reel.

It is a still further object of my invention, to provide means for automatically shifting the. winding apparatus when one reel is empty so that winding of the film continues in a similar manner without interruption in the travel of the film in the same direction to the projector.

Specifically, in one embodimentof my invention I provide a movable disc member having a plurality of reels mounted thereon, one of the. reels being normally in a winding position and being driven to wind the film in a double coil, and I provide means operable when an unwinding reel becomes empty for shifting the disc member to bring an empty reel to the winding position in.

such a manner that the film will be picked up and wound in a double coil. thereon as it is. rotated, whereby the operation is automatically continued, without requiring the attention of the operator.

Another object of my invention. is the provision of film reeling mechanism which may be used with any standard projecting equipment to handle an endless loop of film in such a manner that the entire film may be shown once without requiring rewinding, leaving the coiled film on a reel in readiness to. be projected again without rewinding.

Further objects and advantages of my improvements will be more readily apparent from the following disclosure of preferred embodiments thereof taken in connection, with the attached drawings, in which:

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are diagrammatic views illustrating the method of operation;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken longitudinally through the casing showing the operating mechanism in position for reeling the film;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig- 4 showing the mechanism in position for shifting of the reelsto bring an empty reel to the winding position;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken on the plane indicated 66 in Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a detail enlarged vertical section showing the mounting of the reel;

Fig. 8. is a sectional View taken on the plane indicated 88 in Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a detail section showing the locking.

abutment on the face of the reel;

Fig. 10 is a detail section taken on the plane indicated IB|0 in Fig. '7;

Fig. 11 is an elevation partly in section showing the separation of the reel parts to permit release of the film;

Fig. 12 is a sectional view taken on the plane indicated I2-l2 in Fig. 11;

Fig. 1.3 is a schematic circuit drawing;

Fig. 1.4 is a diagrammatic view of a non-rewinding mechanism;

Fig. 15. is a diagrammatic view of the operating. mechanism in Fig. 1.4.

The. operation of the reeling mechanism may be. most clearly understood from. Figs. 1. to 3. The continuous loop of untwisted film [B is initially wound in double coils upon the reel l2 with the inner end oiv the loop around the pin M and the outer end of the loop being loose and free to be placed through. the feeding. path of the projecting equipment. This will bring a portion of the film adjacentthe empty reel it and the pin l8 on lever arm 20 will be in position to pick up a loop of the. film as the reel starts to rotate in a clockwise direction as shown in Fig. 1. The reel i6 will therefore, draw film. from the projector and at. the same time draw film. from reel l2. which is unwinding and delivering film to the projector.

Fig. 2 illustrates the movement of the film and rotation of the reels during this stage.

When the reel I2 becomes empty the pin I4 is released from the film and the disc 22 on which the reels are mounted is rotated clockwise 120 degrees from the position of Fig. 3 bringing an empty reel 24 into position for picking up and winding the film and placing the full reel I in position for unwinding. The operation will then continue as in Fig. 2. It should be understood that in this arrangement only two reels spaced 180 degrees apart are required as the empty reel could be immediately moved to the winding position, but a third intermediate reel is incorporated in the preferred embodiment in order to obtain a better design and smoother operation.

As an illustrative embodiment of mechanism for carrying out the functions above described, reference may be made to Figs. 4 and 5 in which the casing rotatably supports the shaft 28 for disc 22 at bearings and 32. The disc 22 is fixed by pin 33 to the shaft 28. The disc is provided at its periphery with three notches 34 disposed 125 degrees apart. An L-shaped lever pivotally mounted at 38 on the casing 25 is normally urged to engage one of the notches 34 through the provision of link and tension spring 42 connected to an adjustable set screw 44. A switch lever pivotally mounted at 48 and connected to the link 40 by the pin and slot 50, is moved as hereinafter described to release the lever 35 and permit the partial rotation of disc 22.

The drive shaft 52 is suitably driven from a motor (not shown) by pulley 54. The shaft 52 is rotatably and slidably mounted in casing 25 and carries at its inner end a friction clutch member 58, the inner face of which is formed to frictionally engage and drive the cone 58 of one of the reels which is in winding position. The shaft is urged towards the cone 58 by spring 59. The outer face of the clutch member 55 is formed to frictionally engage and drive the friction disc 59 when the shaft is retracted by the solenoid 52. The disc and pinion gear 54 which is fixed thereto are freely rotatable on stud 65 and a spring 68 acts to maintain the frictional engagement of the clutch faces. The gear 54 meshes with a gear I0 pinned to the shaft 28.

When the shaft 52 is retracted by solenoid 52 it is temporarily held in position by the locking pin I2 which is slidable in the mounting bracket I4 and resiliently urged to locking position by the compression spring 15 acting on collar 18. The pin I2 normally rests on cam 80 and slips past the abutment face 8| of cam 80 when the shaft 52 is retracted. A solenoid 82 is provided to retract pin 72 and release the shaft 52.

The construction of the reels and mounting thereof is shown in Figs. '7 to 12. The pin 84 is rotatably mounted in disc 22 by a needle bearing 85. The reel is composed of an inner plate 88 and an outer plate 90 having an annular flange or hub 02 on which the film is wound. The outer plate also carries a lever 94 pivotally supported at 95 and having at its outer end a pin 98. The parts of the reel are pressed apart by the spring I00, but the outer plate may be latched in position against the inner plate by the engagement of lever 94 with a groove I02 in pin 84. The hub I05 of the outer plate also carries a radial pin I08 normally urged by spring IIO to engage a slot II2 cut in pin 84. The reel may be released from the pin 84 by pulling the pin I08 and slipping the reel from the pin 84. The plate 90 has a cutout I09 to allow movement of the lever til 94 which is held in its extended position by a spring finger III snapping by the pin H3. The plate 90 is provided with a boss II4 having a notch II6 adapted to engage one of the spring pressed fingers II8 which are mounted in the spider I20 fixed by pin I22 to shaft 28. In order to ensure the latching of plate 90 in its proper position by one of the fingers H8, a friction band I24 is provided to. engage the peripheral edge of plate 90 when in its outer position so that the plate 90 will be turned until it is latched by a finger H8.

The film may be fed from the reels as shown in Fig. 6 in which the film strip from the unwinding reel passes around guide rollers I26 and I28 and depends in a loop I29 around roller I30 before passing over a guide roller I32 to the projector. The roller I30 is free to move vertically through the provision of a slotted bearing I34 for the shaft of the roller so that the roller I30 serves to take up the slack particularly when a full reel is moved to unwinding position. In a similar manner the film from the projector passes around a guide roller I35 and depends in a loop I3I around the roller I38 vertically movable in slotted bearing I 40. The film then passes around guide rollers I42 and I44 towards the winding reel. The loop I3'I provides slack to permit the drawing of film when the full reel moves to unwinding position.

The electrical circuit for the solenoids and control switches is schematically shown in Fig. 13. The solenoid 52 is connected to the source of power I45 by a circuit I48 including a switch I50. The solenoid 82 is similarly connected to the source of power I45 by circuit I52 including two switches I54 and I55. While a reel is being wound by shaft 52 both circuits will be open, switch I50 carried by lever arm 45 being normally open and switch I54 being held open by the rod I2. Switch I55 is closed by the tip of lever 35, but the circuit I52 will still be open as switch I54 is in series therewith.

When a reel empties the winding pin will fly out thus releasing the plate 90 of the reel, which is forced out by spring I00, contacting and closing switch I50 at the same time as the lever 35 is released from notch 34. Closing of circuit I48 energizes solenoid 52 to pull back the shaft 52 and bring about rotation of the disc 22.

The movement of the shaft 52 and cam to the left permits the rod I2 to snap upward and thereby permitting closure of switch I54. Switch I55 is then open as the lever 35 has been moved so that circuit I52 will not be closed until the lever 36 falls into the next notch. When this occurs the circuit I52 will be completed energizing solenoid 82 and pulling down locking pin 12 to permit return of shaft 52 to the right. The switch I50 has previously been opened by rotation of the disc 22, thereby de-energizing solenoid 52. Switch I54 will be opened to de-energize solenoid 82 when the pin I2 is pushed down by cam 80.

It should be understood that when the reel which is unwinding becomes empty, the winding pin 88 is snapped out and the spring finger III snapping by the pin II3 holds it in extending position. At the same time, the movement of the lever 54 out of the notch I52 releases the outer plate of the reel which moves outward under the force of the spring I 00. As the disc 22 starts to rotate the reel is free to move away from the film. It is necessary that the outer plate 99 of the reel carrying the winding pin should be brought to the proper position for picking up the film when it comes to the winding position, and this position is determined by the engagement of one of the spring fingers IIB with the notch I I6 of the abutment I I 4. The friction band I24 will be engaged by the edge of plate 90 to cause rotation thereof to its locked position. When the reel finally comes to the Winding position and the winding shaft 52 is released by movement of the latch pin 12, the plate 90 will be forced into its latched position, bringing the winding pin 98 into position to pick up the film and wind it in double coils as rotation begins. The film is therefore continuously fed in the same direction.

A similar method of winding may be used to project an entire film without requiring re-winding at any time. Referring to Figs. 14 and 15, the reel I60 has a winding pin I62 and is otherwise similar to the reels previously described. The endless film I64 is initially formed in double coils upon the reel I60 and is fed in the direction indicated by the continuously driven brackets I66 and I66 past a projector mechanism I provided with the usual intermittent feed; the film then travels along the guide roller I12 and to a reel I14 similar in construction to the reel I60. Reel I14 is initially winding and is drawing film from the reel I60 past the guide roller I16 and guide rollers I18 and I60, as shown. Between the rollers I18 and I80 there is a depending loop of film I82 passing around a roller I84 which is resiliently pulled down by a spring I86. When the reel I60 empties, the film is released therefrom, taking the dotted line position I88; the winding reel I14 will continue to rotate, however, until the mid-point of the film reaches a position adjacent the winding pin I90 of reel I 92. During this period the roller I84 is being pulled upwards as the slack of the loop I82 is taken up. When the flexible cable I94 within the spring I86 becomes taut, the bell crank lever I96 will be shifted. Initially the lever I96 is in position to clutch the pulley I98 to the driving shaft of motor 200. Pulley I98 drives pulley 204 through the belt 202 and pulley 204 drives reel I14. Shifting of lever I96 declutches pulley I98 and clutches pulley 206 to drive pulley 2I0 through belt 208 and produce rotation of reel I92. The bell crank lever I96 is retained in its shifted position by spring 2I2 which shifts with respect to the pivot 2I4 for lever I96. Thus when the reel I92 starts to rotate the film will be picked up and wound in double coils so that, when the entire film has passed through the projector, the film is wound upon reel I92 in the same manner as it was ori inally wound upon reel I60.

It should be understood that my invention relates to the reeling of any endless strip of ma terial which is fed through other equipment controlled by the strip. For example sound film might be handled which is passed through sound reproducing equipment. In the appended claims reference to projection or projecting equipment is intended to cover any apparatus which displays, reproduces or is otherwise controlled by the endless strip which is being fed.

I claim:

1. Film reeling mechanism for an endless strip of untwisted film comprising a rotatably mounted disc, a plurality of reels rotatably mounted on said disc, a supply coil of film Wound on one of said reels, the loop of film at the outer portion of the supply reel being passed through film projecting equipment and adjacent an empty reel in winding position, means for driving the reel in winding position to coil the film thereon, means normally holding. the disc against rotation, means for releasing the film from the supply reel as the supply coil is used up. means controlled by said last mentioned means for interrupting the driving means for the Winding reel, means for releasing the holding means for the disc, means for producing rotation of the disc to shift the full reel to unwinding position and to bring an empty reel to winding position, and means to again cause driving of the reel in winding posinon.

2. Film reeling mechanism for an endless strip of untwisted film comprising a rotatably mounted disc, a plurality of reels rotatably mounted on said disc, a supply coil of film wound on one of said reels, the loop of film at the outer portion of the supply reel being passed through film proecting equipment and adjacent an empty reel in winding position, means for driving the reel in winding position to coil the film thereon, means normally holding the dic against rotation, means for displacing the supply reel laterally with respect to the film strip when said reel becomes empty, means controlled by the displacement of said reel for interrupting the driving means for the winding reel and simultaneously releasing the holding means to permit rotation of said disc, means automatically effective upon interruption of the driving means for the winding reel to produce rotation of said disc to shift the full reel to unwinding position and to bring an empty reel to winding position, and means to again cause the driving of the reel in winding position.

DANIEL THURBER BRIDGES. 

